Fruit-washer.



0. B. WESCOTT.'

FRUIT WASHER.

APPLICATION FILED 1uu24. 1914.

A TTORNEY.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

OTIS B. WESCOTT, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE JEFFR EY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS,'OHIO, A CORPORATION CF OHIO.

FRUIT-WASHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 24, 1914. Serial No. 847,021.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Oris B. WEsTcoTT, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fruit-VVasheis, of which the following is a specification, refp erence being had therein to the accompanythoroughly rinse the fruit as it emergesy from'the wash water, and to drain it before delivery from the machine.

These and other objects are attained by the devices Set forth in the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which,

i Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of themachine taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa cross section of the machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail of the conveyer chain and flights.

lLike numerals refer to. similar parts in the several figures.-

This washer comprises a carrying coni veyer of peculiar construction, upon which the tomatoes or other fruit to be washed `are carried through the washer tank, where allforeign matter is loosened by the violent agitation of the wash water, thence `under fthe rinsing pray, where the loosened matoff to be floated away to the overflow and discharged over the head shaft Iinto anyV ,convenient receptacle ready for use.

The supporting structure comprises the vertical angle bars 1, 2, 3. Vand 4, secured to ter 'is wash any suitable foundai ion, to which are attached the longitud nal members 5, 6, 7

and 8, and suitable cross members such as 9 and 10. Supported on this frame work is a tank composed of' the side plates 12, the end plates 13 andlt, the bottom plate 15 and the draining pate 1G, all joined to gether in any manner suitable to tank construction.

Mounted on this structure, in suitable journal bearings, are the head shaft 17, the foot shaft 18 and the corner shafts 19, 20, 21 and22, all of which are provided with suitable sprocket wheels over which travel the conveyer chains 23. The conveyer can vary as to details but it should have an open material supporting structure for the pur- Patented Feb. 13, 1917.`

pose to be set fortl. As shown, the conveyer chains 23 are of a well known con struction, composed of cast metal side bars 24 and 25, joined by )intles 26 and supplied with rollers 27 adapted to travel over suitable trackage.' The pintles 26 have eXtens-ions 28 upon whicl. are mounted the con veyer flights 29. Tl ese conveyer flights are formed of round bars Ainto the ends of which are drilled'apertures 30 which engage the pintle extensions 25' to form pivotal supports on which the flights are free to rotate. Formed at the middle of the inner side bars 25 are stlds 31, similar in form' and dimensions to the pintle extensions 28, upon which are mounted intermediate flights 32. In Fig. 4, at 32 I have illustrated an alternati 7e construction for the llights, which consists of sections of pipe, or tubing 34, into which have been inserted fillings 35 of any convenient material, such as wooden cores, or plaster of Paris filling,

which prevent the accumulation of` vegetable matter in the interior of the flights. Such accumulations, if allowed, would soon become putrid anc contaminate the fruit which was being washed. The movements ofthe flights on the pintle extensions is sufiicient to keep such accumulations out of the apertures in. the ends of the flights.

A considerable amount of grass and of fragments of vines is commonly associated with the unwashed fruit, which if allowed to become entangled with the conveyer chains or flights 4would soon choke the machine. By the abo'e described 4construction the flights present no corners on which such material may become entangled, and'by theiry rotation the flights are ableto free themselves from such material which works 'through the conveyer to the bottom of the.

tank to be washed out of the washout plug 33. f Guide langles 36 support the chains 23 at the receiving end, guide angles 37 lead the chains through the tank and to the discharge point and guide angles 38 support the return strands. The shaft 22 is provided with suitable take up journal boxes by which the tensionof the chains 23 may be adjusted.

Shields 39 and 40, hinged to the side plates 12, protect the tomatoes from contact with the chains. The hinge mounting of the shields permits them to be raisedfrom time to time for the removal of trashwhich may accumulate beneath them. y

Supported on the frame work of the washer, above the drainage plate 16, "are manifold pipe fittings 42 and 43 into which are fitted a plurality of spray nozzles 44 through which the rinse water is discharged upon the fruit as it is carried from the wash ing tank to the discharge point. An overflow outletl 4'5 is provided in the plate 13 through which the excess water and the floating refuse is discharged, to maintain a uni form "depth of pure waterin the tank. As

the water flows from the drainage plateilfiV to this outlet 45 there willl be sufficient current formed to float oft' the lighter particles 'of refuse, the heaviermatter falling through between the flights of the ,conveyer to be washed out through the washout plug 33 at the close vof the days work. A shield, composed of wire mesh, 46, guards the fruit Vfrom contact with the shaft 20 land the sprocket wheels thereon.

Lying along the center line of the bottom of the tank is a pipe 47 connected with a' supply of compressed air, and provided with numerous orifices 4S through which `jets of air flow into the wash water. As the bubbles of' air rise in the watler'they pass through between the flights of the conveyer,

violently agitating the. water without cansing any injury to the 'tomatoes upon the conveyer. h u v i To \ins ure a'vsafe delivery tothe washer and a 'safe discharge therefrom of thegtomatoes there are provided the guards 49, at`

the feeding end of the machine, and 50 at the discharge end, these guards serving to confine the tomatoes tothe conveyer.

Power is supplied to the shaft 21 which by means of the sprocket wheels causes the conveyer to ymove 1n the direction of the arrow.

front end, and are carried." up" to, and dropped over, theshaft 19, into the washing medium, the said washing medium being in a state of constant andlvolentag'itation as a The tomatoes, or other fruit to beV washed, are fed onto the conveyerat the l off through the overflow 45. As the tomatoes settle upon the conveyer they are carried up the second incline and immediately after leaving the wash are given a final rinsing by means of the streams of water coming from the spray nozzles 44 attached to the manifolds 42 and 43. At the end of the convveyer they are deposited into whatever receptacle may be provided to receiye them. The constant streams-of Water c omlng from the spray nozzles 44 also serve to keep the wash water comparatively fresh.

TheA fruit or vegetables can be supplied to the 4tank in relatively large quantities rap idly. The articles form an indiscriminate mass resting upon the conveyer, each being sufficiently free to Abe moved, it being relatively lightened by the suspending action of thewater; and the jets of air which are forced through. the conveyer agitate the water and turn the articles so as to expedite the cleansing. The conveyer bars being easily; rotatable are caused by the material resting upon them yto turn around their axes, this movement taking to the chamber below' them the foreign materials (dirt,

sand, stems, pieces`of vine, etc.)y so" that they .are self-cleaned.

What I claimiis: i 1. In a fruit-washing machine, the com- 'fbination with the tank for wash water, of

means for supporting the articles and while supporting them conveying them continuoiisly' in one direction, said means comprising a conveyer section arranged to receive the articles at the bottom of the body of water'and at one end of the vessel and convey them in horizontal paths along said bottom, a second conveyer section arranged to take theA articles from the last aforesaid section and carry them upward on inclined lines t'o points above the surface of the water, and a conveyer section at the receivin end of the apparatus which is positioned above lthe water. in the4 tank and arranged to initially receive the articles and deliver them to the tank. I'

2. In a fruit washing machine, the combination of a tank for containing wash water, and a continuous endless ,flight conveyer having an initial fruit receiving section positioned above the level of the water in the tank and a second fruit receiving section inthe tank below the end of the fi'rst section and moving in the' same-direction, the fruit being dischargedl ,from the first section into the water and settling through the water onto the second section, and a guardscreen in the tank for holding the tion being positioned approximately hori- .zontally along the bottom of the "Water tank, and the third section extending from the bottom of. the tank to points above the level of the water, the discharge end of the first section and the receiving end of the second sectiony being arranged substantially as set forth to cause the articles delivered from the first section to escape from the conveyer at the receiving end of the tank and to settle f.

through the water tothe receiving end of the second conveyer .continuously supported by the second and section and then to be third sections and the eby carried through and out from the wate r. l

4. In a fruit washing machine, .the combination of a tank for containing wash water, and an endless conveyor havin an upwardly inclined receiving section wit its delivery end above the level of the water, a second section at the bottom of the water, an intermediate idle :section inclined away from the path of the d ropping material, and a third section for e yevating the material from the bottom of the tank to points above the water, that portion of the conveyer submerged in the water bein adapted' to hold indiscriminately ama ss o the articles to be washed.

In testimony whereof7 I aix my signature, in presence of tw o witnesses.-

O'. TIS B. WESCOTT.

Witnesses:

P. W. WILLEY DUDLEY T. F1a HER. 

